In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

The practice of metta begins with oneself, for only when we have developed loving-kindness towards ourselves can we truly offer it to others.

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.

When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

When you let go of trying to control everything, you can relax and enjoy life.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

Through violence, you may solve one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.